Experience Hamadori: Iwaki Vegetables, ‘Wakan-Yosai’ & Somayaki Pottery

Protecting sato-imo for a hundred years

The Shiraishi family dates back to the Edo-period (between 1600 and 1868). Nagatoshi Shiraishi is the 8th head of this land-owning family. Besides sato-imo, they also organically cultivate several seasonal vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, daikon-root, napa cabbage, eggplants, rice, and Iwaki’s native ‘mote negi’-spring onions. After the typhoon of 2019 ravaged the area, many products were rendered impossible to ship. However, the sato-imo were saved by the fact that they were buried 1.5 meters deep, and covered by a layer of straw. After hearing this story, a chef recommended in 2016 to give a name to this native sato-imo species (which became ‘Chobei’), and register it in the Iwaki Mukashi-Yasai seed bank. Chobei was the name of Nagatoshi Shiraishi’s father. Naming this sato-imo after his father, is Shiraishi’s way of honoring the time they spent together on the farm growing them.

Natural farming, circular farming

Although Nagatoshi Shiraishi took over the family business at age 22, he had effectively been running it since he was a 2nd-year high school student. His father had fallen ill, leaving the farm business to his son. But shortly before his illness, Shiraishi Sr. had run into an expert on natural farming, and started studying it together with his son. The quality of the soil depends on the microbes that make it their home. These microbes allow for a natural cycle to occur in the soil. The microbes feed on organic material, and their excrement becomes nutrition for vegetables. Shiraishi knows all about this natural cycle within the soil, and has vowed to make sure it continues.

Overcoming the damage of the typhoon

In 2019, the nearby Natsui River overflowed, and spread 20-30 cms of mud over the farm fields. This caused many vegetables that year to be lost. The sato-imo, however, were safe, thanks to the fact that they are grown underground. Shiraishi acknowledges that these sato-imo, which survived the 3.11 disaster, as well as the 2019 typhoon, in the end saved him. The mud from the flood contained abundant nutritional content for plants, meaning Shiraishi hardly had to provide any organic fertilizer last year. “People consider these events disasters, but for nature it is really a matter of cleansing.” Shiraishi’s words ring true, especially spoken by someone with much experience with nature’s threats and bounties alike.

“I would have probably never become a farmer, if I didn’t happen to be born as one,” says Shiraishi, as he walks towards his farm field with a big smile on his face. The vegetables he grows are big in size, but also have an air of serenity.

The greenhouse which had been destroyed by the typhoon, has been rebuilt, in time to serve as the dining location for the upcoming FoodCamp.  Shiraishi is actively looking to use his greenhouse, usually reserved for farming, for other purposes as well. He’s always the first one to take one new challenges. Collaborating with father and son Kondo of Toukichirougama with their Soma-Yaki pottery, as well as Chef Fukushima of Cross Wonder Dining, is one more challenge to show off his diversity.

This is bound to be a very invigorating day indeed!

The ‘Crossing’-concept

Cross Wonder Dining, located on the premises of the Wonder Farm in Yotsukura, Iwaki, was established on the 12th of March 2021, 10 years after the disaster. It was started as the project for the next ten years of Cross Tokyo (a restaurant with strong social consciousness) together with Wonder Farm, which aims towards the recovery of the primary sector of industry in the areas affected by the 3.11 disaster with local producers and farmers.

The Crossing-concept means the crossing of people with people, rural with metropolitan, and producers with restaurants, to strive towards joint growth and contributing to the local community through a new kind of dining experience. Spearheading this project is Chef Fukushima, who studied French cuisine in Lyon and  Burgundy.

When asked about the local ingredients of Iwaki, Chef Fukushima (who himself is from Miyazaki Prefecture in southern Japan) responds, “Joban-mono fish is firm , tasty, and well-sized.” It means a lot coming from a chef who’s worked with som many great ingredients over the years. He adds, “The ingredients you get in Tokyo have usually been shipped for two or three days. Here at Cross Wonder Dining, we use fresh ingredients directly from the farmers and fishers, which is what makes the restaurant so great.”

Tomate Gastronomie and Wakan-Yosai

One of the most attractive features is the ‘Tomate Gastronomie‘-project, undertaken with the adjacent Wonder Farm’s tomatoes. The tomatoes grown at the Wonder Farm all year round, are served in many different ways, showing off the chef’s knowledge of- and skill with tomatoes.

Cross Wonder Dining is also an advocate for another style of unique and original cuisine called ‘Wakan-Yosai.‘  This is a healthy fusion of Japanese-, Chinese and Modern French cuisines, but inspired by traditional Chinese medicinal cooking, e.g. the skillful use of herbs and spices, as well as traditional Chinese-and herbal medicine, and a good balance between vegetables, fish and meat. The drink menu also regularly features – besides beer and wine – various carefully selected alcohol beverages with medicinal benefits, and kanpo-cha (traditional Chinese medicinal tea).

The wonder of ‘meeting’

There are stories behind the chef’s first meeting with this edition of FoodCamp’s producers. He is now well-acquainted with the farmer of sato-imo and other fresh vegetables Shiraishi, as well as father and son Kondo of Ohori-Somayaki pottery kiln Toukichirougama, who moved to the area from the town of Namie after the disaster.  Chef Fukushima has been using Shiraishi’s vegetables, as they are relatively large in size, and have a sort of serene quality to them, according to the chef. The character of the farmer comes through in the product.

As for his meeting with the Kondo’s, one night Kondo came to the restaurant, carrying a plate. He told the chef that he wanted to organize a dining event at the restaurant, using the craft plates from Toukichirougama.  Of course, the chef was on board right away. This is the power of the meeting of kindred spirit, which is what led to their current relationship.

This kind of meeting might just be the best kind of spice Iwaki has to offer. It has led to a kind of flavor that’s hard to pin down. But doubtless, the world of Cross Wonder will be revealed during the upcoming edition of FoodCamp.

Toukichirougama and the history of Obori-Somayaki pottery

Around 300 years ago, Obori Somayaki pottery developed in the Obori area of Namie Town, supported by local farmers who learned the craft of pottery, looking for a new way to create a future for themselves as artisans. In order to prevent the loss of technology to other areas, the local government in 1697 proclaimed that Obori Somyaki artisans were not to leave the region. The art slowly spread out to neighboring towns, and by the end of the Edo Period (mid-20th century) the area has become the foremost producer of pottery, with around 120 kilns. But the subsequent Meiji-period saw a move towards other industries, and the pottery industry came into rapid decline. The Great East Japan Earthquake disaster, finally, caused most kiln-owners to leave the area.

The first head of the Kondo-family, Heikichi Kondo, learned the kyo-yaki and rakuyaki crafts and became an artisan in Edo (the former name of Tokyo). In 1777, he was requested to move to the Aizu Domain (now western-Fukushima Pref.), as a pottery instructor. Next, he moved to the domain of Miharu (now in central Fukushima), where he taught the craft to hundreds of students. His son, Toukichi Kondo, after Heikichi’s death,  continued for some years in Miharu, before settling down in the Obori-area in the Soma-domain, near the coast. This spirit has been passed down to 9th generation family head Manabu Kondo, and his son Takashi.

Thanks to the connection with a certain customer, Kondo Jr. and Sr. managed to set up a new kiln  in their current location, after the Obori-area of Namie Town was designated as a ‘Difficult to return-zone’ after 3.11. Their first big task was to recreate a so-called ‘climbing kiln’. A climbing kiln is a type of kiln in which – in order to produce pottery in large volume – the furnace is divided into several spaces, which all us a slanted surface. Since the Obori-Somayaki kiln was first established, it had always used Japanese red pine trees as fuel for the climbing kilns. Since the 1960s, this practice started to die out with the induction of gas-, kersone- and electric kilns. But in 1988, Toukichirougama revamped their climbing kiln, to create new pottery in it every spring. This climbing kiln is in use for over a week, during which time it has to be replenished with firewood constantly. This hard work is part of the craftsmen’s identity. It has now become a symbol of the spirit and dignity of this Toukichirougama and its climbing kiln, even after the transition to a new land.

My father, the craftsman

After Manabu Kondo graduated from college, he started working for the family business, the Obori Soma-yaki Kiln Toukichirougama. At 28 years of age, he was first selected for a national modern craft exhibit, and kept being selected, until at age 32 he was selected for the Japan Fine Arts Exhibition. It was the first time a craftsman of Obori Soma-yaki was selected. Afterwards, he became a regular face and winner at various exhibits and competitions, even becoming a judge at the Japan Contemporary Arts and Crafts Exhibition.

In 2012, at age 58 he was held in such high regard in-and outside of Japan, that he was featured on Italian fashion brand GUCCI’s official blog, as a one of Japan’s most representative potters.

How must it have been for his his son, Takashi, to grow up seeing this?

Even though he is the oldest of three sons, Takashi Kondo was never pressured into becoming a potter and taking over the family business. But the desire to become one developed inside him at an early stage. He says, “That was mostly thanks to seeing how much my father enjoyed his work.”

Takashi followed through on his dreams, and entered into an arts college, majoring in pottery. As a college student, he started making his first works. Takashi, at 21 (an even younger age than his father) was first selected for the Japan Fine Arts Exhibition and won. Afterwards, he won various other art prizes, incl. Toyota’s LEXUS NEW TAKUMI PROJECT.

The success of this father and son is truly spectacular. We, at FoodCamp, were astonished to learn that craftsmen like these are active and living in Fukushima.  Their styles are radically different from one another. But that’s to be expected from craftsmen, as they are after all artists in their own right, besides being father and son.

How do these two outstanding craftsmen regard FoodCamp?

“Even though we’re potters, we’re interested in trying many different things. We want to create new opportunities,” says Takashi. His father, realizing that their works were never used in restaurants, took it upon himself to find a professional chef who would be interested to cooperate. FoodCamp offers the perfect chance to create a new precedent. At FoodCamp, we couldn’t be more proud to start the collaboration we these amazing artists.